GWP Nature Blog

I’m the first one to admit it: my knowledge of bees is woefully deficient. Clutching my FSC fold out guide I have made brief and tentative forays into the mysterious world of bee identification. Like most people, I just haven’t quite “got there” yet. So imagine my delight when Katy Malone of the Bumblebee Conservation […]

There have been times this summer when, braced against horizontal rain and bellowing into the faces of distressed transatlantic tourists, I have had cause to re-evaluate my career choice. Sometimes being a wildlife guide just isn’t that easy. Worse still, there are occasions when the wildlife is there with bells on… but your clients, dressed […]

There are two fundamental forces that govern my working life: the wildlife and the weather. This year, Mother Nature has quite literally flipped me the bird. Star-Species sightings have never been so good – but the weather has never been so bad. For our smaller residents, things are looking pretty bleak. I have only seen […]

The Song Thrush: one of Britain’s most charming and decorous songbirds. Dressed tastefully in brown, black and gold, it hops about in our pasture tweaking at this or that worm, bashing snails against rocks or cocking its head to watch passers-by. One of the most frequently asked questions on my walks is “why do you […]

To people who work in outdoor jobs, boxes can be scary things. They are carried anxiously towards you, held at arm length to avoid jiggling the contents. The faces bobbing above the box are filled with nervous excitement and concern – the mouth a pale “O” of part-formed accounts and explanations. Birds seem to cop […]

Recently, I experienced a desire to know more about otters. For reasons unknown, their whiskery faces had bubbled up to a more prominent pool in my consciousness. Thumbing the instructions for a new trail cam and staring into the middle distance, I felt compelled to investigate. Encounters with these animals have an arbitrary quality. I […]

The Bank Vole rotated slowly in its polythene bag. I wasn’t confident that I could catch it. As it regarded each member of our group through ink-drop eyes, I wondered darkly what it was capable of. Alicia – staff naturalist at the Aigas Field Centre – made it all look easy. She tipped the bag […]

Perched among the manifold cushions of Sir John’s sofa, I wasn’t quite sure how I’d talked myself onto it. It was a most alarming situation. To my right, a stuffed Ptarmigan stared blankly out from a large bookcase. To my left, a well-doing Jack Russell [called either “Nip” or “Tuck”] met my glance with mute […]

The autumn rut is my favourite seasonal event on Glengorm. I can categorically tell you that nothing else – and I mean nothing – will get me springing out of bed at 5:30am. Last year was the first occasion that I lead groups out to watch the stags; in all honestly, I was quite unlucky. […]

Looking at enlarged images of moth genitalia might not strike you as a recipe for a great weekend. As a hobby, peering at moths’ bottoms enjoys limited appeal. Activities such as knitting are generally considered more popular and/or socially acceptable. However. Faced with a room of thirty delegates – some from as far away as Serbia […]